Home rage, the trashing of houses that are about to be repossessed, has become increasingly commmon in Las Vegas.

The McStaff family apparently was so desperate at being evicted from 11141 South Lavandou Drive in Las Vegas that at least one member appears to have whacked lumps out of the property before they left.

A month later the property, which fetched $525,000 as a newly built home in 2006, is back on the market at $270,000 – minus a few chunks taken out of the living room wall and a large hole in the ceiling next door.

Stripped of fixtures such as the fridge and the cooker, the kitchen sink contains a bowl of washing-up, while the bathroom basin is acting as a receptacle for cigarette stubs.

Weeks after the departing owners left a note for their bank, blaming it for ruining their dream, the floors are scattered with old garden chairs, piles of pens and bank statements.

Gail Burks, the head of the Nevada Fair Housing Centre, a citizens advice bureau, said that home rage had become common in Las Vegas as dispossessed homeowners vent their frustration. “There have been five foreclosures on my street, three of which ripped everything out. This kind of thing has an impact on the wider community,” said Ms Banks, who receives about 600 requests a month now for advice on foreclosure, compared with about 200 in October last year.

There are 28,655 vacant properties on the market in Las Vegas as a result of foreclosure, Ms Banks said. Elsewhere, planned residential houses have been put on hold as demand and financing evaporates.

Some commercial construction projects have run into trouble. The Cosmopolitan, a casino resort being built at the heart of The Strip, defaulted on a $760 million construction loan from Deutsche Bank and is heading towards foreclosure.

The credit crunch has also forced several delays to commercial projects on The Strip such as the second tower that Donald Trump planned on his hotel and apartment complex and a $6 billion dollar version of New York’s Plaza Hotel.

Crown Las Vegas, a bullet-shaped hotel and casino that was going to become the tallest building in the city, was scrapped last month for lack of financing.

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